'Real Life' Motoring

News: JAGUAR TO BUILD ICONIC XKSS – ‘THE WORLD’S FIRST SUPERCAR’

Another day spent reminiscing over MotorMartin’s lost S-Type, possibly the finest motorcar to yet grace the drive at MotorMartin Towers, was interrupted by the welcome news that Jaguar is to build the stunning XKSS as an ultra-exclusive continuation model. Good news indeed and well done Jaguar.

MotorMartin has been informed that, rather incredibly, nine new XKSS’s – often referred to by experts as the world’s first supercar – will be hand built by Jaguar Classic to the exact specification as they appeared in 1957, replacing the cars lost due to the famous Browns Lane factory fire.

Tim Hannig, Director Jaguar Land Rover Classic, shared with MotorMartin that: “The XKSS occupies a unique place in Jaguar’s history and is a car coveted by collectors the world over for its exclusivity and unmistakable design.”

“Jaguar Classic’s highly skilled team of engineers and technicians will draw on decades of knowledge to ensure each of the nine cars is completely authentic and crafted to the highest quality.” Before continuing to say that: “Our continuation XKSS reaffirms our commitment to nurture the passion and enthusiasm for Jaguar’s illustrious past by offering exceptional cars, services, parts and experiences.”

The original cars were earmarked for export to the USA, however, just 16 were completed before disaster struck. Now 59 years later, Jaguar is going to build the nine ‘lost’ XKSS sports cars for a select group of established collectors and customers and if by any chance one of you is reading this, please write in and let MotorMartin have a go. Tuning in and subscribing to Jaguar’s excellent YouTube channel shows you how much the company value their own heritage. The following short film gives us the history behind the XKSS and the fire.

Jaguar have explained to MotorMartin that the expertise gained during the construction of the Lightweight E-type project will be transferred to the construction of the nine ultra-exclusive continuations. Each one will be hand-built at Jaguar’s new ‘Experimental Shop’ in Warwick.

Every car will be constructed to the same specifications as those first 16 made in 1957 – every aspect fully certified by Jaguar. The price will be in excess of £1 million. Blimey, best start saving.

As shown in the film above, the story of the XKSS began following Jaguar’s three successive Le Mans victories in 1955, 1956 and 1957 with the all-conquering D-type.

With remarkable foresight, after the hat-trick of wins, Sir William Lyons took the decision on 14 January 1957 to convert the remaining 25 D-types into road-going versions with several external modifications – creating the world’s first super car many, many years before this kind of thinking became the norm.

These modifications included the addition of a new higher windscreen, an extra door on the passenger side, taking away the divider between driver and passenger and the removal of the famous fin behind the driver’s seat.

Jaguar have clearly been working extremely hard on this amazing engineering challenge and for that, we should all be very grateful. The first deliveries of the new continuation Jaguar XKSS will commence in early 2017 MotorMartin has been informed and I can’t wait to see the first completed car exit through the factory gates.